


Shattered Mirrors and Broken Glass

by semnai



Category: Hannibal (TV)
Genre: M/M, Post-Episode: s03e13 The Wrath of the Lamb, Post-Season/Series 03 Finale, the hannibal/will is there but through Jack's and a video's eyes
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-08-28
Updated: 2018-08-28
Packaged: 2019-07-03 13:45:16
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,584
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15820074
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/semnai/pseuds/semnai
Summary: The other side of the coin - Jack is left to make sense of the mess Will, Hannibal, and Francis made, and is left one tantalizing clue, courtesy of Hannibal, who couldn't help one last bit of showmanship.





	Shattered Mirrors and Broken Glass

**Author's Note:**

> This came about because I needed more about how Jack reacted to the finale and from a little kernel of an idea I had when rewatching the finale for the millionth time one day. I wanted to see Will and Hannibal's relationship through Jack's eyes. I've had this sitting in my drafts for at least over a year. Maybe a year and a half. I've been through a severe writing drought and I can't get myself to do anything and ideas aren't coming to me. So I am done having this sit in my drafts, hence why I'm posting it. Please enjoy!

So much in his life had felt inevitable, Bella’s death, Lecter’s eventual capture, and finally Will Graham’s reconvergence with Hannibal Lecter. Ever since in the Quantico halls Will had suggested the plan to fake Hannibal’s escape, Jack had hoped for the best but had prepared himself for the worst.

Nevertheless, as he took in the gore splattered back patio of what had to be another of Hannibal’s safe houses he had hidden from the FBI even after three years of incarceration, he still was uncertain exactly what had happened. His forensic team currently swarmed around the scene like ants on honey, collecting DNA samples, which would help prove who bled where, and photographing the numerous drops, spatter, and puddles of blood that now covered the living room and outside deck, which would paint a picture the movements of the individuals and possibly how the wounds were inflicted. Others dusted for fingerprints on the doors, and bagged the several weapons found at the scene, like what looked to be Will’s gun and a second gun with a silencer lying on the carpet inside the house, and a small folding knife and an ax outside on the patio. 

DNA and fingerprints were also collected from the police car outside, and the two broken wine glasses and wine bottle found amid carpet stained red from where wine and blood mingled together. And of course, the body of Francis Dolarhyde, the Great Red Dragon himself, in the process of rigor mortis with his throat and stomach savagely torn open, lay outside for the world to see. Despite the mounds of evidence that surrounded him, it was what they didn’t find that troubled him the most.

“Sir, you should see this.”

Jack’s eyes snapped away from Francis’ lifeless body, looking up at a forensic analyst, one of the new recruits, who appeared rather uncomfortable with the scene around him.

“Show me.”

The analyst led him back to the house, carefully stepping around the broken glass, to where a short tripod was set up with a small film camera. Among all the chaos around them, it somehow was still standing, facing the patio outside.

His mouth fell open as he quickly measured the implications of this. “Was it running?” he asked shortly.

The man nodded as he knelt down and placed a gloved hand on top of the camera. “It appears it has reached the end of the roll actually.”

“This film needs to be developed now. Zeller. Price.” Jack said, sharply raising his voice, scanning the crowd for the two men.

“Do either of you know how to develop film?”

“Yeah, I can do that,” Price said. “More of a hobby really, but—“

“Great. I want a copy of this video,” he said pointing to the camera below him, “on my desk in two hours. Let’s get you back to the lab.”

\---

Initially, when they realized a police car was missing from where the overturned convoy that had been transporting Hannibal, they had tried to track the GPS on the vehicle. It should have been a quick and easy process, but someone apparently had dismantled it within the car. While they frantically looked for alternatives, Will’s cell phone suddenly came back online, and immediately a track was placed on it. Honestly, Jack had been expecting to find it on the side of the road somewhere, an obvious intent to throw them off track. Instead they found the bloody scene and Francis’ lifeless body. All things considered, it definitely wasn’t the worst option they could have come across. One less serial killer was one less serial killer, even if it possibly came at a very high price.

When Will and Hannibal were not found at the scene, he had immediately put out an updated BOLO, but didn’t expect anything to come of it. Either Hannibal and Will were dead somewhere, especially judging the amount of blood loss at the scene, or they were barely alive and in hiding, and probably wouldn’t emerge for a very long time until they were in much better shape.

But this video, if it really was filming, if it was pointed in the right direction, if the film wasn’t damaged, may be able to shine some light on this huge mess. All the analysts who were at the scene now would be able to eventually piece things together, but that took time, time he didn’t have. He needed to know now what had happened last night at that cliffside house.

As he paced back and forth in his office, he intermittently called for updates at the crime scene. They had discovered two sets of fingerprints on the wine glasses, no surprise. Only partials had been pulled from the knife. Another set from the ax. All pieces of the puzzle, but he was no Will Graham. He could not smoothly fit them together all on his own.

“Here,” Price said, abruptly entering his office and throwing a flash drive on the desk, his face troubled, badly masked. Zeller was following behind him, lips pursed.

“This doesn’t sound good,” Jack said.

“Well, it was definitely getting things on film. You may have hit the jackpot here. Some of those negatives…” Price gave a low whistle. “Well let’s just say, no one tell Freddy this exists. Or maybe we should, she’d pay a fortune.”

Jack gave him a hard look as he plugged the flash drive into the side of his computer, and waited for the folder to appear impatiently. He double clicked on the folder and then the video, which popped up on his screen. The grainy video focused in on Hannibal’s face, which shone with sweat. Unsurprisingly, he had changed out of the prison jumpsuit at some point between when he had escaped and when the video started, wearing a dark sweater and jacket. He was propped up against a table leg, and in obvious discomfort with one hand covered in blood lying over his abdomen. Someone, presumably Francis, must have been behind the camera, as Lecter was speaking to them between pained gasps of breath.

Jack had seen Lecter hurt many times, most memorably by his own hand, but he had never seen Lecter appear so clearly vulnerable as he did in that moment. There was something about his position, the lack of a mask hiding his pain on his face, that all made the moment appear so uncalculating. Though his first thought was a savage pleasure to see Lecter brought to this state, Jack also knew even this vulnerability was all by design. As everything Lecter did. Lecter’s eyes then glanced, almost beseechingly, up to his left away from the camera, and it didn’t take a genius to guess that’s where Will stood. 

Before he could even begin to wonder what Will was doing, he saw Hannibal visibly flinch as he looked up to the left again. Just as quick as the flinch, Hannibal’s eyes followed a flash of movement across the camera so he was now looking outside to whatever was happening. That had to be Will and Francis, presumably fighting, though Jack could not discern from that briefest glimpse who had attacked who.

Hannibal gave one shuddering deep breath, before his eyes flitted back to the camera for one second, apparently making up his mind. For someone who had been injured in the abdomen, he moved forward towards the camera unnaturally fast, until his bloody shirt in front of the lens was the only thing that could be seen. The view suddenly rotated from Hannibal’s chest to outside, and the picture came into focus, Hannibal seemingly adjusting the lens.

“That son of a bitch,” Jack muttered under his breath.

All the while Hannibal was arranging the camera, as the three of them back at Quantico could now actually see, Francis and Will were outside in the darkness. Although the darkness outside was frustratingly vague, it appeared Francis was attacking Will, possibly stabbing him. The light from the house and moon and stars above gave the barest indication of the actions of Francis and Will, but no clear detail, like looking at a painting of silhouettes, just different shades of black.

Camera now apparently adjusted to his liking, Hannibal appeared back in the frame outside, lunging at Francis to throw him off Will, who stumbled to the ground.

Jack, Zeller, and Price could only stare at Jack’s computer screen and watch the scene unfold in front of them: Hannibal’s tableau, his masterpiece, the death of the Great Red Dragon at the hands of him and Will.

Jack barely recognized the actions of Will Graham in the video as the Will Graham he knew and, maybe because it was a video, it felt unreal, like a really bad dream. He always knew Will was… unstable, capable of terrible things due to Hannibal’s influence on him, but seeing it was something else. When the light from the house caught him right, Jack could see Will’s face was black with blood, his teeth bared, his profile inhuman. He and Hannibal attacked Francis with strength and speed regardless of their respective injuries, moving together as if they had been doing it their whole lives.

And then, it was all over. Francis had fallen to the ground and it was obvious it was where they had found him several hours later.

Both Hannibal and Will stumbled to their feet, catching their breath, and checking injuries.

Jack’s hands clenched the edge of the desk, as he leaned forward to better make out the two men through the darkness and graininess of the video. So they did both survive Francis, but it remained to be seen if they survived each other.

Will fell to the ground again, clutching his shoulder, as Hannibal slowly limped a short distance, closer to Will, farther into the darkness. 

Then: Will held out his hand to Hannibal, and with no hesitation, Hannibal took it, pulling Will back up back to him. 

Jack could only watch transfixed, a feeling of dread creeping up his spine. The two men clutched at each other with the desperation of one who was drowning, like they hadn’t truly seen each other for years, like the BHCI visits, the trip in the armored car, whatever happened prior to this moment was nothing, but here they finally recognized each other for themselves. Despite himself, Jack could not push aside a creeping sense that he was intruding on something, and a feeling of discomfort grew. This was… intimate. That something between Hannibal and Will that he had always chosen to ignore or just trust that Will’s better nature would prevail was rearing its head again.

A blink, their position twisted, and both fell backwards into absolute blackness. And then nothing.

“Shit,” Zeller muttered under his breath.

As the seconds in the video continued to tick on, it felt like they were now staring at a static image of the back patio of the cliffside house. 

After at least half a minute more, Jack looked up to Zeller and Price expectantly. “Well,” Jack said, even himself appearing uncertain if it was a statement or a question.

Price cleared his throat but said nothing, and Zeller looked like he’d rather be anywhere but in Jack’s office at that moment.

As the silence continued, Jack tried again. “Well. Do we already have people looking in the water?”

Price looked back at the video still playing on Jack’s desk, and shrugged sheepishly. “Not yet. From what I remember there was only some blood drop evidence at some point on the cliff edge, and we’re still only beginning to process the mountain of evidence that we found.” And then almost to himself, “I’ll have to make sure the technicians conduct the blood spatter analysis with this in mind.” He paused, sighing. “We’ll probably need to get the Coast Guard’s help if we’re going to do a water search.” 

Zeller’s eyes narrowed, and he shook his head. “Wait, before that, there’s about twenty minutes left. Here.” He brought up the video player controls, and started fast forwarding through the rest. The picture continued to appear as a still image, but for the gradual lightening as dawn approached.however the film ended long before they could see a sunrise. 

Jack knew Zeller had hoped to see the hands of Hannibal or Will pulling up back from the edge of the cliff or a “gotcha!” like this had all been some sort of deranged prank. It was much easier to think about that then even begin to approach the reality of the current situation at this point. 

Zeller held up his hands in defeat. “It was worth a shot, I guess. Coast Guard it is.”

Jack pulled out his cell phone. “Get back to the lab and begin processing evidence. We need to make damn sure it corroborates this video. There can be no question of what happened there last night.”

Zeller nodded and walked out of Jack’s office, but hesitated in the hallway when he saw Price hadn’t moved yet, apparently working up the courage to ask Jack a question. 

“Um. So,” Price began eloquently. “Are we hoping they’re alive or dead?” Jack had a feeling the “they’re” in this question was more about Will than Hannibal.

Jack turned away, dialing a number on his phone. “Go,” he said, simply.

In truth, he wasn’t so sure about the answer himself. He spoke briefly to his superior and then went through the appropriate channels to initiate a full search of the water directly below the cliff and all areas the current could reasonably carry bodies, alive or dead. He needed something. He knew finding anything in a big body of water was like trying to find a pair of needles in a haystack, but they had to try. The mass panic that had arisen after they were required to tell the public of Hannibal’s escape would only give rise to theories and conspiracies if Hannibal, and Will, conveniently completely disappeared. Only bodies would quell the public outrage and fear. 

Despite everything, Jack still felt uncertain where Will stood. Ever since Will’s stay in the BHCI, and, even moreso after Hannibal had left for Europe, Will’s exact relationship with Lecter felt nebulous and mercurial. For a while, Jack knew that even Will wasn’t sure, but now, now things felt different.

Sitting back down at his desk, Jack rewound the video back to that pivotal moment of Hannibal and Will standing on the cliff’s edge, holding each other, standing so close together as if they had become one. And then gone like they had fallen out of existence. Jack rewound it again, looking closely at the moments directly before and as they fell. It felt futile trying to discern the actions and movements of Hannibal and Will through the inky blackness with only the barest amount of light reaching where they now stood. But still Jack continued to try.

He rewound it a countless number of times before he could feel even partially sure of anything. Or at least the one thing that he tried not to think he was purposely trying to find: the tightening of Will’s arm around Hannibal’s waist, and then Will leaning into the fall, pushing Hannibal, and himself, over. It fit into the narrative Jack wanted to tell himself, so he tried not notice that he had avoided rewinding the video any further back to see Will’s feral grin and a glint of a knife tearing through flesh.

**Author's Note:**

> There's a tad more to this than what you see here, but I wanted it at a natural ending point. Maybe at some point I will feel inspired to add more... my vision was Jack trying to catch Hannibal and Will as they romance themselves around the world.
> 
> Thank you so much for reading!!! :)


End file.
